sult of releases from the Mayak nuclear facility should continue.

Research Need 11: Japanese atomic bomb survivor studies

The LSS cohort of Japanese A-bomb survivors has played a central role in BEIR VII and in past risk assessments. It is important that follow-up for mortality and cancer incidence continue for the 45% of the cohort who remained alive at the end of 2000.

In the near future, an uncertainty evaluation of the DS02 dosimetry system is expected to become available. Dose-response analyses that make use of this evaluation should thus be conducted to account for dosimetry uncertainties.

Development and application of analytic methods that allow more reliable estimation of site-specific estimates is also needed. Specifically, methods that draw on both data for the specific site and data for broader cancer categories could be useful.

Research Need 12: Epidemiologic studies in general

Data from the LSS cohort of A-bomb survivors should be supplemented with data on populations exposed to low doses and/or dose rates, especially those with large enough doses to allow risks to be estimated with reasonable precision. Studies of nuclear industry workers and careful studies of persons exposed in countries of the former Soviet Union are particularly important in this regard.